Entries in quiche
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Anytime I mention quiche to someone I get a HUGE eye roll. I know it is so very passé, but sometimes it works. And in this case, it was all that was going to work. The reason being? Hermine decided to drop a shit ton of rain, wind and palm fronds all over the place. It wasn’t fit for woman nor beast out there. I had a fridge full of leftovers from the previous night’s BBQ that I wanted to use in some way. Now, I could have made a blueberry tart, but didn’t think that was a good choice for dinner, plus I love the combo of grilled corn and zucchini. I did add diced tomatoes, but probably wouldn’t next time, they didn’t really add much. If I had fresh basil, I would definitely have used that, but I didn’t so I used thyme. Plus, I had pastry dough in the freezer, and that made a savory, summer, light dinner even easier. This is very much a seat of your pants sort of recipe, no exact quantities, or ingredients, just use what you have on hand.

Pastry dough for a 9-inch tart (recipe below makes enough for two crusts)

3 large eggs

Heavy cream

Grated cheese (I had Manchego on hand)

Grilled corn, kernels off the cob

Grilled zucchini, diced

Fresh thyme

1 cup diced tomatoes, drained (optional – in fact don’t bother)

Salt & pepper

For the tart

Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll out dough on a floured surface 2-inches larger than a 9-inch tart/quiche pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough up so it’s slightly higher than the pan’s edge. Prick and freeze 20 minutes. Line chilled pastry shell with parchment paper and cover bottom with pie weights or beans. Blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove weights and parchment then continue baking to dry out the shell (no one wants a soggy bottom). Let cool 20 minutes before filling.

Lower oven temperature to 375°F. Toss the corn kernels and zucchini together in a medium bowl, add fresh thyme or basil, season with salt and pepper. Lightly beat three eggs then add enough heavy cream to make up 1 ½ cups (thanks Julia Child for that tip – think 1 large egg and enough liquid to make up ½ cup), season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Spread about ½ cup of shredded cheese on the bottom of cooled pastry, top with enough filling to cover the entire tart bottom.

Pour egg mixture over and bake 25 minutes. Spread more grated chees on top, bake for an additional 10 minutes until slightly brown and puffed up around the edges. Let cool 10 minutes and there you go. A yummy corn and zucchini not quiche

For the crust

2 cups all purpose flour

¾ cup shortening/lard – chilled and cut in cubes

Ice water

Process flour and shortening together in the bowl of a food processor for 30 seconds. If the dough does not form a rough shape, add a little ice water by tablespoon. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface, divide in two equal pieces, and shape each piece into a disk. Cover one disk with cling film and freeze. Roll disk out 2inches larger than tart pan

Here’s another thing I hadn’t made in ages.These are easy to make and were perfect for the after prom brunch yesterday.These “mini” quiches would be equally nice as an appetizer for a cocktail party.I stay away from the word “quiche” since it was SO over used in the 90’s, everyone turns their nose up at and real men don’t eat it...even though they did on Sunday they just thought they were eating mini tartlet’s...ha ha!What’s nice about making them “mini” is that you can mix up the fillings for a nice variety.I used red bell peppers, caramelized onions and crispy bacon but you could use sundried tomatoes, pesto, Parma ham...really just about anything.All I did was spoon a basic savory custard over the fillings and pop them in the oven for twenty minutes.I made them the day before then re-heated them for about ten minutes before serving.Also, using pre rolled prepared pastry made my life even easier!

Roll out pastry.Cut out 12 circles and line muffin/tart tin with pastry.Pressing edges up to the top of the pan.Make sure there are no holes or cracks in the pastry shells.You can use extra pastry scraps for repairs.Refrigerate while preparing the fillings

Heat oil in a medium skillet, cook onions until brown around edges and beginning to caramelize.Do not burn.Set aside to cool.Repeat cooking the peppers until soft and aromatic, not brown.Set aside to cool. Crumble bacon into pieces small enough to fit into tart shells

Whisk the cream and eggs in a medium bowl.Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon fillings into pastry cases and spoon egg mixture up to the tops of the pastry, leaving just a little room (the mixture will puff up when baking).Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry begins to brown and the tartlet’s puff up.Let cool for 15 minutes, remove tartlets from pan and store in an airtight container.

It’s All Delicious Notes: These can be made the day before and refrigerated.You can serve these warm or at room temperature.